I read an interview with Grossman which said he would be writing a follow-up. I believe Grossman said that the sequel will probably jump ahead several years.

The book stands well on it's own and does a pretty good job at wrapping everything up (a couple of things a bit too neatly IMO).

Finished it last night. Not bad, and I'd read the sequel, but I found the first third awesome, the second third dark and the last third sort of goofy. The "epilogue" I'm not sure of yet. It will be interesting to see where the author goes with it, and where it is primarily set.

I read this book because I had read a couple golf/history books written by Frost and thought I would give his fiction work a try. It is not bad, but not great. It is designed as a page turner and it works in some places and not in others.

Basically the book involves Arthur Conan Doyle before he wrote his Sherlock Holmes books. The plot revolves around the occult, murder, a plot on the English Crown and finally a very strange but not unexpected twist at the end.

Finished the Red Planet trilogy by Kim Stanely (as well as The Martians). Interesting read, but in my opinion it went downhill after the first book. Blue Planet in particular took me forever to get through. To be fair, it is sort of my worst nightmare of a writing style as I'm not that into description and Stanely likes to describe things in great detail (like every crater on Mars). So if you like description in your fiction you will probably enjoy the books more than I did.

As a quasi-conservative it was interesting to read about his vision of a non-capitalistic economic system (in theory I have no problem with capitalism being replaced). I couldn't help but roll my eyes a few times, but I try to keep an open mind while reading fiction so it wasn't so bad. But if you are sensitive to christian bashing and hate socialism I would probably not recommend the books to you.

Overall it couldn't have been terrible as I finished the trilogy and I'm glad I did just to see the characters to the end. It certainly had a nice epic feel to it. It also had a lot of scientific detail -- way too much for my tastes and it contained a lot of rambling tangents on topics such as psychology. This isn't all bad, but for me it contributed to the series dragging on for far too many pages. Anyway here are my rankings (five star system):

The book does a very good job of covering Armstrong's childhood, Navy flier experience during Korea, and his NACA experience flying the X-15. Obviously, a significant portion is devoted to his Apollo 11 training and experiences. At one point, there's a weird left turn to explore contemporary coverage from an author that never had a one-on-one interview with him, but overall the book does a great job exploring Armstrong's life and just how different and private he was from the rest of the people around him. It doesn't spend a whole lot of time exploring the last 40 years of his life (so far), but then, I guess there's not much call to explore his corporate sponsorships and board of directors work in much more detail than is presented here. I learned things about the programs he was involved with that I didn't know as well, which is always a bonus for me.

Finally made it through Storm of Swords. Took months of reading, but wow, what an amazing book. The chapter where everything gets upended (you know the one if you've read it) was so shocking I had to read it over twice. Did not see that coming at all.

Jumping right into Feast for Crows, which I hear is not as good, but figure I might as well finish off the series as it currently stands and then I can join the disappointed throngs waiting what's likely at least another year for Dance of Dragons. My goal is to finish it by the end of the year.

Finished the Red Planet trilogy by Kim Stanely (as well as The Martians). Interesting read, but in my opinion it went downhill after the first book. Blue Planet in particular took me forever to get through. To be fair, it is sort of my worst nightmare of a writing style as I'm not that into description and Stanely likes to describe things in great detail (like every crater on Mars). So if you like description in your fiction you will probably enjoy the books more than I did.

As a quasi-conservative it was interesting to read about his vision of a non-capitalistic economic system (in theory I have no problem with capitalism being replaced). I couldn't help but roll my eyes a few times, but I try to keep an open mind while reading fiction so it wasn't so bad. But if you are sensitive to christian bashing and hate socialism I would probably not recommend the books to you.

Overall it couldn't have been terrible as I finished the trilogy and I'm glad I did just to see the characters to the end. It certainly had a nice epic feel to it. It also had a lot of scientific detail -- way too much for my tastes and it contained a lot of rambling tangents on topics such as psychology. This isn't all bad, but for me it contributed to the series dragging on for far too many pages. Anyway here are my rankings (five star system):

Red Planet: 3 starsGreen Planet: 2.5 starsBlue Plane: 2.0 stars

I agree completely. I thought the first book was very good and that after that he loses all focus.

The TV series is based on this book. The book starts out really well and then kinda drags thru the middle to a decent end. I don't know about the science used in the book but it sounded a little too convienent to me.

JANUARYOdyssey of the West IV A Classic Education through the Great Books* Timothy B. Shutt LITStupid Black Men How To Play The Race Card - And Lose Larry Elder SOCGreat Sky River (Galactic Center, volume 3) Gregory Benford SCI FIMy War Killing Time In Iraq Colby Buzzell CURRENTThe Last True Story I'll EverTell: An Accidental Soldier's Account of the War in IraqJohn Crawford CURRENTHard Corps From Gangster to Marine Hero Marco Martinez CURRENTIn Praise of Prejudice The Necessity of Preconceived Ideas Theodore Dalrymple SOCWhy You Should Read Kafka Before You Waste Your Life James Hawkes LITOny A Theory Evolution and the Battle for America's Soul Kenneth R. Miller SCI

FEBRUARYDumbing Us Down The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling John Taylor Gatto SOCBattlespace Book Two of The Legacy Trilogy Ian Douglas SCI FIEnder's Exile Orson Scott Card SCI FIJust After Sunset Stories Stephen King FICTStar Marines Book Three of The Legacy Trilogy Ian Douglass SCI FI

MARCHThe Soul Thief* Charles Baxter FICTIONAlive in Necropolis A Novel Doug Dorst FICTIONThe Kings of New York A Year Among the Geeks, Oddballs, And Geniuses Who Make Up America's Top High School Chess Team Michael Weinreb CURRENTByzantium The Surprising Life of a Medieval Empire Judith Herrin HISTORYA Concise History of Byzantium Warren Treadgold HISTORYThe Horse, the Wheel, and Language: How Bronze-Age Riders from the Eurasian Steppes Shaped the Modern World David W. Anthony HISTORY

APRILThe Mountain People Colin Turnbull NONFICTIONThe Decline and Fall of Rome* Thomas F. Madden HISTORYThe Ruin of the Roman Empire A New History James J. O'Donnell HISTORYJustinian's Flea: Plague, Empire, and the Birth of Europe William RosenYour Heart Belongs To Me Dean KoontzIs God A Mathematician? Mario LivioWinston's War Michael Dobbs

MAYStalin's Children: Three Generations of Love, War, and Survival Own MatthewsEmpires of Trust How Rome Built - and America is Building - a New World Thomas F. MaddenThe Turnaround A Novel George PelecanosThe SuperOrganism The Beauty, Elegance, and Strangeness of Insect Societies E. O. Wilson , Bert HolldoblerThe Third Reich At War Richard J. Evans

JUNEThe Source A Novel James MichenerUnbelievable Investigations Into Ghosts, Poltergeists, Telepathy, And Other Unseen Phenomena, From The Duke Parapsychology Laboratory Stacy HornThe ESP Enigma The Scientific Case for Psychic Phenomena Dianne Powell, M.D.The Last Defender of Camelot Roger ZelaznyGive Me Back My Legions! Harry TurtledoveWhite King And Red Queen How The Cold War Was Fought On The Chessboard Daniel JohnsonEscape From Hell A Novel Larry Niven & Jerry PournelleSelections from Dreamsongs 2: Tales of Fantasy, Horror/Sci Fi and a Man Called Tuf* G.R.R. MartinA Clockwork Orange A Novel* Anthony BurgessBerserkers The Beginning* Fred SaberhagenElric of Melnibone* Michael MoorcockTried By War: Abraham Lincoln as Commander-In-Chief* James McPherson

JULYJews, God And History Max I. DimontThe Yiddish Policemen's Union* Michael ChabonThe Killer Angels A Novel of Gettysburg* Michael ShaaraThe Defeat of Rome in the East Crassus, The Parthians, and the Disastrous Battle of Carrhae, 53 BC Gareth C. SampsonThe City of Ember* Jeanne DuPrauThe Discovery of France A Historical Geography from the Revolution to the First World War Graham RobbA Hymn Before Battle John RingoThe Middle Ages The Complete Idiot's Guide To Timothy HallWorld Without End A Novel* Ken FollettA Distant Mirror The Calamitous 14th Century* Barbara TuchmanThe Space-Gods Revealed A Close Look At The Theories of Erich Von Daniken Ronald StoryThe Skeptic's Dictionary A Collection of Strange Beliefs, Amusing Deceptions & Dangerous Deceptions Robert T. CarrollAmerica Anonymous: 8 Addicts In Search of A Life Denizet-Lewis, BenoitWhy We Read What We Read: A Delightfully Opinionated Journey Through Contemporary Best-Sellers Lisa Adams

AUGUSTThe Lathe of Heaven Ursula K. Le GuinHow to Build a Dinosaur: Extinction Doesn't Have to Be Forever* Jack HornerFighting Techniques of Naval Warfare Strategy, Weapons, Commanders and Ships 1190 BC - 1942 Thomas Dunne BooksLiberty and Tyranny A Conservative Manifesto Mark R. LevinBerserker's Planet* Fred SaberhagenThe Man In The High Castle* Philip K. DickSherlock Holmes Was Wrong Reopening the Case of The Hound of the Baskervilles Pierre BayardThe Art of Conversation A Guided Tour of a Neglected Pleasure Catherine BlythHow the Catholic Church Built Western Civilization* Thomas WoodsThe Gifts of the Jews: How a Tribe of Desert Nomads Changed the Way Everyone Thinks and Feels*Thomas CahillWhere God Was Born A Daring Adventure Through The Bible's Greatest Stories Bruce FeilerEmpire Rising A Novel of Ancient Akkad Sam BaroneInto the Storm Destroyermen, Bk 1 Taylor AndersonThe Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber/ The Snows of Kilimanjaro* Ernest HemingwayPride and Prejudice and Zombies Jane Austen & Seth Grahame-SmithRelentless A Novel Dean KoontzThe Tyranny of Dead Ideas Unleash A New Economic Prosperity Matt Miller

NOVEMBER The Law of Nines* Terry GoodkindThe Evolution of God Robert WrightDark Worlds of H. P. Lovecraft, Vol. 1* H. P. LovecraftThe Elements of Style Strunk & WhiteWaiting For My Cats To Die A Morbid Memoir Stacy HornTransition A Novel Iain M. BanksFragment A Novel Warren FahyConqueror Time's Tapestry Book Two Stephen BaxterStitches A Memoir David SmallThunderstruck* Erik LarsonThe Simpsons An Uncensored, Unauthorized History John Ortved

DECEMBERThe Inheritance of Rome: Illuminating the Dark Ages, 400-1000 Chris WickhamHow Rome Fell: Death of a Superpower Adrian GoldsworthyLiberal Fascism The Secret History of the American Left from Mussolini to the Politics of Meaning Jonah GoldbergDescartes' Bones A Skeletal History of the Conflict Between Faith and Reason* Russell ShortoAnansi Boys* Neil GaimanAlfred & Emily A Life Doris LessingImpostor's Daughter A True Memoir Laurie SandellThe Name of the Wind Patrick RothfussCrusade: Destroyermen, Book II Taylor AndersonLoser Goes First My Thirty-Something Years of Dumb Luck and Minor Humiliation Dan KennedyHis Majesty's Dragon (Temeraire series, Book 1)* Naomi Novik

« Last Edit: December 25, 2009, 12:20:57 AM by JohnathanStrange »

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You just don't give up do you? You seize life by the throat and shake it like a topless bartender mixing a martini! -- Mayor Adam West

And to think I felt proud that I'm going to get to twelve books this year...

Yeah. Me too. I'm gonna finish with about 15. Not sure how people find that much time to read...at least when not in an academic setting.

Out of curiosity I went back through this thread and tallied up the number of books I've read this year (titles only started and completed in 2009). I've never kept track in the past, but my wife is an avid reader and she usually keeps track of the number of titles she's read. Even though she is a sucker for the latest "vampire smut" and she'll tear through anything from young adult fiction to the smuttiest of supernatural "adult" fare, she still reads a lot and way more than I do. Still, I wanted to see how I've done this year compared to years past, especially since I now get tons of books from the library.

Finances limited purchases in the past, especially when books are first released in hardback for a hefty price of admission, but now that I've discovered this place called the library I learned you can get books for free. It's like a book grocery store, only without any price tags and nothing to slow down my reading binges! (I am obviously joking, but I still have to wonder why I never took advantage in the past). The coolest part is my wife and I can go online, input our library card numbers, browse all available titles, reserve what we want (up to 25 or 30 titles at one time), and when our books are ready they send us an email and have the books waiting for us right inside the library entrance. No card catalogs, no searching through aisles, just an automated system that takes care of everything for us. The experience is, dare I say, fabulous.

Since January I managed to finish 23 books. For me that is probably the most productive reading year I've ever had, including college, and I still have a number of F. Paul Wilson Repairman Jack books to get through before the end of the year. Now that I know I've already read 23 books this year, perhaps shooting for 30 isn't an unreasonable goal, especially since I have two months to read just seven more books. I'm certainly nowhere near JonathanStrange's level, but for me 20 to 30 books in a year is quite an accomplishment and a milestone I can be proud of. I'm reading far more than I ever have, and even if my reading is focused more on entertainment and adventure fiction, reading is still an admirable hobby almost regardless of content (Twilight being a bit questionable ). And if I manage to reach my goal of 30 books this year, perhaps I can be even more productive in 2010.

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Beauty is only skin deep. Which is why I take very good care of my skin.

Finances limited purchases in the past, especially when books are first released in hardback for a hefty price of admission, but now that I've discovered this place called the library I learned you can get books for free. icon_eek It's like a book grocery store, only without any price tags and nothing to slow down my reading binges! (I am obviously joking, but I still have to wonder why I never took advantage in the past). The coolest part is my wife and I can go online, input our library card numbers, browse all available titles, reserve what we want (up to 25 or 30 titles at one time), and when our books are ready they send us an email and have the books waiting for us right inside the library entrance. No card catalogs, no searching through aisles, just an automated system that takes care of everything for us. The experience is, dare I say, fabulous. Fabulous

Preach on, Preacher. I have discovered the library as well and have found it to be the bomb. Back in the day, to get a library card, it took weeks. These days? I walked in, gave my info, kapow, card in hand, books in bag.

I mentioned to my wife last night how this thread has helped me to keep track of my reading this year and that I had read far more in 2009 than ever before. She said that she was also keeping track of her finished books, and I made the mistake of asking how many.

53. But, I guess I shouldn't be too terribly surprised as when we're driving somewhere, even just five minutes down the road, she'll crack open her current book and read while I drive. If we're watching TV but it isn't one of "her" shows (or if the baseball/football game isn't terribly exciting) she'll read during commercials or during the actual program. She reads at night before bed, on Saturday/Sunday mornings when she wakes up but doesn't feel like getting out of bed, she reads in the car, while watching TV, during her lunch breaks, etc. Problem is, if I try to engage her in conversation while I'm driving, during a football game, or during a commercial, she'll just give me "the look" and say, "You're doing it again." Meaning I'm interrupting her reading again.

She's always reading. Guess that means that since she's reading so much she isn't talking, so I should be pleased with her hobby.

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Beauty is only skin deep. Which is why I take very good care of my skin.